By. Harper Cuttino

If you ever want to experience being at a massive Halloween party in the middle of March, or want to meet hundreds of celebrities in one weekend, then conventions might be the thing for you. But more specifically, anime conventions. Ever since the start of the pandemic, a guilty pleasure of mine has been watching anime, and while I am not as obsessed as I was back in 2020, I still enjoy the occasional show. Therefore, anime sparked my interest in attending conventions. This year, I attended GalaxyCon Richmond, which took place at the Greater Richmond Convention Center on March 15-17, and I had the opportunity to meet tons of interesting celebrities and attendees. 

For starters, GalaxyCon is a traveling anime convention that takes place in cities around the nation. Every year, GalaxyCon makes a stop in Richmond for three days, Friday through Sunday, and it gives the opportunity for those in the area to attend the convention. Every day, the convention is open from 10 a.m.-8 p.m., and a regular day pass costs around 60 dollars. You can also purchase all-weekend passes, but they come at a heftier price. GalaxyCon focuses more on anime and various fandom events all hosted in one venue. There are sections of the convention that feature tattoo artistry, and even pro-wrestling groups. Various actors and special guests often attend the convention and have booths set up for meet-and-greets and autograph sessions. Panels are also a common event for the celebrities attending. 

GalaxyCon also hosts events for professional cosplayers to compete and show off their work. In my opinion, the cosplayers are one of the best parts conventions have to offer. According to Eppiccosplay, cosplay is defined as, “the act of dressing in a costume to recreate the appearance of a character from a work of fiction.” Cosplays can range from all media from characters in film and television, to people even cosplaying as rides from Disney World. So even if you might not have any interest in meeting celebrities, walking around and people watching is just as entertaining.

Cosplayers in a cosplay contest at GalaxyCon Richmond 2023. Photo credit: Galaxyconrichmond via instagram.

In previous years, I had attended GalaxyCon and had a great time, so I was excited to go again. This year in particular would be my third time ever attending an anime convention, so I was a bit more prepared. The first time I ever attended a convention was GalaxyCon Richmond in the spring of my Freshman year. I was a bit overwhelmed by everything that was going on inside. Plus, I remember I spent half time waiting in line for four hours to meet a voice actor, (Zach Aguilar, known for his work on the TV series Demon Slayer), so coming back this time, I knew I wanted to mingle a bit more.

The thing I enjoy the most about these types of conventions is the opportunity to fully embrace whatever I find most interesting about film and television, and I get to share those opinions and thoughts with similar people. It’s really interesting to walk around and admire different cosplays that people have made themselves. The effort and hours of hard work people put into their costumes really shows. In addition, there is always a plethora of different fandoms that people will cosplay from, which is always amusing. I also have learnt to just “go with the flow” in certain situations, as there might be some bizarre things going on. When walking down the street towards the convention center, all you see are hundreds of people dressed up, then the next thing you know you’re walking in between Darth Vader and Sailor Moon. Then, when you enter the convention halls, you might encounter a frustrated Optimus Prime dealing with an ATM machine, or witness a Hatsune Miku doing one-armed pull-ups at the military recruitment station. You just might not know what you will encounter, which adds to the excitement.

The Sunday morning of the convention, I woke up around 8 a.m. and headed over to my friend Madelyn Ford’s (‘25), house to get ready. My other friends Adi Brotherton (‘25), Oli Handley (‘26), and Natalie Harwood (‘25) joined us. Despite the early morning, everyone was excited to get ready and head to the convention as soon as possible. Ford had also noted, with urgency, that we had to leave as early as possible, as the line on Saturday had been so long that Ford and Handley waited for over two hours to get inside. I laughed at first before Ford and Handley commented that they were 100% serious. So, we all finished getting ready and drove to the convention. 

Guest panel from GalaxyCon 2024. Photo credit: Galaxyconrichmond on instagram.

Luckily, we didn’t have to deal with the issue of parking, as Ford’s dad drove us and dropped us off out front. A tip for anyone attending conventions is that parking is often expensive and hard to find, so I recommend getting a ride or Uber. Exiting the car, we immediately saw an abundance of people lining the sidewalk in varieties of cosplay, and luckily at this time there was no line to get inside. We got our day passes from the front check in and then headed straight for artist alley.

In every convention, there is always what’s known as an artist alley. Essentially, it consists of several booths in which artists are allowed to sell their own merchandise and, well, art. I always spend an unfathomable amount of time looking at every booth and purchasing anything in my line of sight. The amount of booths feels almost never-ending as I get lost in this maze of people and art. And no matter what, I always leave a convention with my credit card screaming to be put out of its misery, but I always justify it by knowing that I must support the artists there. 

After wandering around for a couple of hours, my friends and I decided it was finally time to get in line for autographs. Across from artist alley is where all the celebrities and actors were stationed, and the area was almost five times as packed as artist alley. The lines of some booths were so long that volunteers had to be positioned with signs showing where the lines started, normally 10 feet back from the booth, and people were crammed in bunches shoulder by shoulder. In thinking back to previous years, I knew I had to prioritize who I wanted to meet. While regarding this, Harwood tapped on my shoulder and pointed in the direction of a booth. I followed her hand, and my eyes landed on a booth that read, “James Murray.” 

Murray is known for his work as a comedian and for his participation on the show Impractical Jokers. The show is about, Murray (known as Murr), Q (Brian Quinn), Joe (Joe Gatto), and Sal (Sal Vulcano), and their efforts to embarrass each other through various public challenges. Harwood, Brotherton, and I are huge Impractical Jokers fans, and we were not expecting his appearance, as it was not previously mentioned in the catalog. We quickly moved over to the side and got in line for his meet-and-greet. The line went by quicker than expected, and we were able to meet with him and grab a photo. He was super nice and funny, and he signed an autograph for Harwood as well. After a minute of chatting, we said goodbye and continued on. 

The next people I wanted to meet consisted of voice actors. Someone I had really hoped to meet was the voice actor Tara Strong, as she starred in so many shows I watched as a kid. Her portfolio consists of her work on the Power Puff Girls as the character Bubbles, the voice of Raven from Teen Titans, the voices Harley Quinn and Batgirl in DC superhero shows, and many many more. However, due to her popularity, I had missed the opportunity to get an autograph, so I moved on to meet other actors I was looking forward to meeting. 

I ended up meeting a total of four voice actors and one professional cosplayer. The voice actors I had met and gotten autographs from included Justin Briner, Blake Roman, Cristina Valenzuela (Vee), and Kimiko Glenn. All of them were kind and had cool stories to tell in regards to the shows they were in. I was especially excited to meet Briner, as at previous conventions I hadn’t had the time. Roman was also fun to talk to, as this was one of his first conventions, being new to voice acting. He recently starred in the show Hazbin Hotel and had various other roles in musical theater. Glenn was also another voice actor Hazbin Hotel and also previously starred in the musical Waitress. Vee was really cool, as she has a long history of acting and voice acting. She starred as Killua in Hunter x Hunter, a long-running anime, and she was also was Marinette in the show Miraculous Ladybug.

Next year’s schedule. Image credit: Galaxyconrichmond on instagram.

Towards the end of the day, my friends and I had spotted the cosplayer Whoachriswhoa out and about in his Hobie Brown Spider-Man cosplay. We followed him over to his booth and chatted with him for ten minutes. He was kind and enthusiastic about his work, and overall it was a great experience meeting him. With all the chaos of running around, we headed over to a secluded corner of the center (as there were barely any free seats) and sat down for a minute to decompress and get something to eat.

After we finished eating our 20 dollar chicken tenders while huddling in the corner of the room, we decided to end our day and head home. When we finally got back into the car, everyone immediately felt the exhaustion settle in. We had been in that center for over six hours, with little time to sit. While we were so tired, we still had enough energy to discuss the highlights of the day on the way home. 

As overwhelming as such a convention might seem, it is still something I look forward to experiencing again. My friends and I hope to go again to next year’s Richmond GalaxyCon, which takes place on March 27-30, 2025. Brotherton recalled, “I definitely spent way too much money, but honestly I didn’t care, because going there was so worth every penny. I can’t wait for next year; I’m already planning my next cosplay!” Overall, it was an enjoyable experience, and I strongly encourage anyone who wants to step out of their comfort zone and nerd out, even a little, to attend a convention of some sorts.